Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
bloom
Maverick left me on our bed with a light kiss and a playful squeeze to one of my breasts when Harper knocked on the door of his room. Our room.
Maybe I needed to remind myself that it was his room, because we were potentially only a few days away from him wanting to kill me for lying to him.
He pulled the door open. “You brought her laptop?” I could hear the scowl in his voice.
Relief made my shoulders sag.
Paperwork was my anchor. It was ridiculous, but still true.
“I know what my best friend needs.” Harper tried to step past Maverick to get inside.
He blocked her path with his body. “I don’t want your scent in our bed again. There’s a room across the hall. Use it.”
“Why are you always so difficult?”
“It’s a job requirement.”
“I’m going.” Harper leaned her head through the door to look over at me. I waved from the bed, my gaze catching on the ring on my finger.
It was stunning.
I was trying not to think about how much I loved it.
Harper had texted me when she was getting close, so I’d gotten dressed a few minutes ago.
All I had to wear was Maverick’s clothes again, but I wasn’t about to complain.
When I rolled the waistband of his sweats a bunch of times and pulled on another t-shirt that smelled like him, I was even more comfortable than usual.
Maybe leggings weren’t the only pants worth wearing after all.
“I’m coming,” I agreed.
“The code is your birthday,” Maverick called after her.
“How do you know my birthday?”
“I have resources.”
Resources, meaning the internet. Or enforcers with the internet. It probably helped that he was technically her boss.
Not mine, of course.
If he told me what to do at this point, I’d politely tell him to fuck off. And then be dragged along to do whatever he had wanted me to do in the first place, secretly happy about it.
Harper left, and Maverick closed the door behind her. “I need to meet with some of my wolves, if you don’t mind.”
“I thought you weren’t letting me out of your sight.”
“I’m not.” He picked his phone up off the nightstand and pressed a few buttons before he handed it over. There was live feed from multiple cameras playing on the screen, showing that Maverick had them just about everywhere. Even in our bedroom.
“What the hell is that?” I gestured to the screen, my eyes narrowing at him.
“A camera.”
“If you think I’m fucking you again while that thing records it, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“I can pause the feed.”
I lifted an eyebrow.
He opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out a small remote, handing it over. I pressed the large, obvious PAUSE button, and the feed paused.
That was better than nothing.
“I’m still not doing it. I deserve privacy. Take the camera down, or things stay PG between us indefinitely.”
“It’s for your safety, Sugar.”
“It’s for your stalkerish tendencies.” I handed his phone back and walked away. “If there are cameras in Harper’s room, you have ten minutes to take them down before we find a way to break them. My best friend is not a danger to me, and you have a lock on the door. That’s enough.”
Maverick followed me out of his bedroom and across the hall. He grabbed my hip, turning me around so my back met the door.
I gave him a dark look. “I’m not one of your wolves, Maverick. You can’t force me to comply. I know I almost died, but that doesn’t mean you can treat me like your possession. You already abducted me. You don’t get to record me.”
“You knew the abduction was coming eventually.”
“That doesn’t make it any more reasonable, does it?”
“It was kind of fun though, right?”
I pointed to the hallway. “Go get the tools to take down the cameras. Now.”
He took my face in his hands and tipped it back until we were looking each other in the eyes.
“Bloom Sharpe,” he said. “You matter to me. You really fucking matter to me. If something happens to you, I have no idea what I’ll do.
That scares the hell out of me. Because I understand where you’re coming from, I will take the cameras out of Harper’s room if you agree to having two of my enforcers stationed outside this door when I’m not with you. ”
It was the best offer I was going to get. I had almost died, and he had risked his health to save me.
“Fine. I can deal with the enforcers. Do you have a new plan to find the murderer yet?”
“Rhone sent a team to find Zach, the tech guy who disappeared from Cassidy’s group, in case he’s behind the issues we’re having with our security system.
We’re hoping we can drag him back here and get some information.
In the meantime, Sutton is still in the office to try to figure out which of your coworkers could have been turned. ”
“You’re sure it’s someone in the office?”
“Someone knew to put the wolfsbane in your vanilla syrup. The only people who would know that are your coworkers. No one who doesn’t work in the office would know about your obsession with vanilla lattes.”
“I get coffee from a shop by my apartment pretty often. Anyone who knows that could figure it out.”
“It’s not impossible,” Maverick agreed. “But considering everything else, it seems safe to assume the killer’s somewhere within the company.”
If he was right, and it was one of my coworkers other than Harper, that was kind of terrifying.
Maybe it was a good thing the overprotective bastard had gotten me out of there.
“What are you going to be doing?” I asked. “You mentioned earlier that there’s another reason we’re here.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I do, actually.”
He dragged his thumb lightly over my cheekbone. “A few more challengers came into town while we were recovering.”
My stomach clenched. “They don’t think their Alpha should be mated to a vampire.”
“They just want my throne.” He was lying, but I appreciated the effort to soften the blow.
Maverick slipped his finger between my lips and fingered my fang just lightly enough not to get bitten. It descended for him, and his lips curved.
“How many is a few?” I asked.
“A handful.”
My eyes narrowed. “Give me a number, Mav.”
“Any number?”
I pulled his finger from between my lips. “Maverick.”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t lose.”
“Of course it matters. How many challengers are there?”
“Four.”
I let out a relieved breath.
It was a lot, but he had handled more in Erren.
“How many are women?”
The way he clearly debated his answer was enough to tell me something was up.
“Four.”
I smacked him on the arm. He didn’t even flinch. “How many are there, total?”
“Fifty-eight.” The answer was grudging.
My body stilled.
I stared up at him.
He stared down at me. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“You are not fighting fifty-eight people today because of me. Tell them we broke up. Tell them you’re not interested in me anymore. Tell them—“
“I’m not fighting fifty-eight people today.
It’s standard to space the fights out by an hour or two.
Sometimes three. Some Alphas only agree to one a day.
I usually do it back-to-back to get it all over with, but some of the guys are big fuckers, so taking the hour seemed like a better call.
There will be sixteen fights a day for the next three days, and ten on the fourth. ”
“What?” My snarl could’ve rivaled any wolves’. “You’re not fighting for four days straight.”
“I am. It’s part of being an Alpha.”
“It’s because of me. Can’t we go out and show them that we’re taking the bond seriously, like last time?”
“No. You’re not leaving these rooms.” He gestured between the doors on either side of the hallway.
Our room, and Harper’s. “Even if you did, that wouldn’t work on these people.
They didn’t travel here to see if I’m really fated to a vampire.
Half of them are young, stupid shitheads who are cocky enough to think this is their chance to be king.
The other half are old and scarred, and detest vampires.
I’m going to have to kill some of them.”
I shook my head. “I’m not staying locked in here while you’re risking your life fighting people just as strong as you are, Maverick.”
“They aren’t as strong as me. And unlike them, I’ve got something to fight for.” He kissed me lightly.
“If they’re fighting for people they’ve lost, they do too.”
“I’ve done both, and it’s not the same.”
The door at my back opened. I stumbled, but Maverick steadied me with a hand on my lower back.
“What’s going on out here?” Harper asked, leaning against the doorway. “Steamy hallway makeout?”
“No. Maverick was just telling me that he’s going to fight gigantic werewolves today, tomorrow, the next day, and the day after, just because they hate that he’s fated to a vampire.” I scowled in his direction, pushing his hand away from me
There was a beat of silence before Harper replied. “Cool. Can we watch?”
I shot her a look. “Not cool, and no, he wants us to literally stay locked in here while he potentially dies at the hand of some prejudiced dick.”
“I’m not going to die, and you’re just going to be a target if you’re outside.”
“So you want me to sit here while you risk your life and—”
“Bloom.” Maverick interrupted me. “I won’t be able to fight while you’re sitting out in the open where anyone could kill you.
It was a distraction in Erren, and the guys here are going to be a lot stronger.
If you’re at risk, I won’t be at the top of my game.
I understand your reasoning, and I would feel the same way, but it’s not safe for either of us. ”
The rest of my protests died in my throat.
“I’ll, wait inside,” Harper murmured. The door shut behind her.
I stepped closer to Maverick, putting my hands on his chest. “If I was fully your mate, would I still have to wait inside?”
“If your life was in danger.”
“What if my life is always in danger? I’m always going to be a vampire, Mav. And you’re always going to be a werewolf.”
“People will come around.”
“I don’t think they will.”